The Assistant
by ausynja
Summary: Mister Preston Black is a prestigious business man and none of the possible assistants is good enough for him, not even the new one.


**I tried myself at a Blackcup fic. It is based on a dream I had, so I hope you like it. I did proof read it, but if there are still one or two mistakes, please tell me and I'll change that!**  
**Please also note that I am not a native speaker, so my English might be iffy sometimes .**

**And now I wish you fun while reading!**

For the fifth time he locked at his polished and rather expensive Rolex now. The silver arms were moving, the little slim second hand ticking away quickly, each faint click loud in his ears as his precious and valuabe time was ticking away.

The cars were stopping next to him, unloading people and luggage, saying their dearest good-byes, some kissing, hugging, tears-filled voices wishing all the best to their beloved. How he hated it! Loathed it! Despised it!

Couldn't they, for once in his life, be less like… that? Humans and their emotions were pretty annoying already, why did they have to shove it right into his face? He grunted a sigh and dismissed the crowd of people around him by looking at his watch again. Only a minute had passed.  
The sudden honk of a horn made him raise his head and a foul expression showed on his face. A rather large, sweaty and not shaved cab driver pointed a finger at him. He clicked his tongue and winked at the man assuming from the Rolex he wore, along with the expensive looking suitcase, he would have a lot of money and be extra generous with the tipping.  
The man dressed all in black only rolled his eyes and with a rather lazy wave of his free hand, he dismissed the driver.  
_(Well, fuck you, too!)_

The man stole another glance at his watch. Where in the name of good and evil in the world was he?  
Without realising his left foot started to pat a nervous rhythm on the pavement. At first slowly and by every second ticking away the rhythm increased. Some might have thought he was nervous, probably thinking about the appointment he was going to miss.  
The reality though was much more appalling. Deep in thoughts the man pictured his assistant, chained to a wall, bleeding while a whip crashed down on his tender flesh, over and over again, screams filled with pain and agony echoing through his mind.  
This thought brought a smile to his face, which quickly faded. Unfortunately you were not allowed to do such punishments anymore.

A second sound of a horn had him raise his head again, and yes, finally, this time, it was his black Mercedes.  
It came to a halt, a little away from the man. How wonderful, he would have to walk now…  
A blond young man jumped out of the driver's side, surrounded the car and approached the man.  
"I am terribly sorry Mister Black, but there was a horrible long queue on the …"  
"I don't care, Harris! I've been waiting here for exactly five minutes and thirty-seven seconds! There is no excuse for you to be so late! Now get my suitcase into the car! One of us still needs to work!"

The blond dropped his head and hurried to get the suitcase and put it in the trunk of the car.  
Mister Black watched him with a smug smile. That poor boy! Trying so hard and failing every time! Pathetic!  
He really had no manners. That stupid boy was still far too occupied with his suitcase so he had totally forgotten to open the door for him.  
The tall man growled. This could not be true!  
So he opened the black door of his own car and elegantly slipped onto the back seat. Nice, cold, fresh air surrounded him and he was relieved to finally be away from the burning heat of the sun, the laughing and cheering crowd, the smell and touches of human bodies.

Through the tinted windows he looked back at the streaming flock of people, how they entered and exited the airport, thinking about their own meaningless lives, how no one of them would ever achieve something great. Living their petty little lives without ever knowing what was really going on.  
The front door was opened and the light colour of Harris' hair moved into the front of the car, behind the wheel.  
"Back to the office then! And I'll be faster now, Sir!" Harris smiled. It was a nervous smile and Mister Black already enjoyed how his assistant was cringing. He said no word and continued to stare out of the window.  
The engine started and Harris steered them out of the cramped airport, not without suppressing a curse, when a cab pulled in front of him. He heard the driver of the yellow car laugh and saw him make a very rude and insulting movement with his hand. The young man tried to ignore it. He had other problems to deal with. Maybe he was lucky and there would be not a problem at all. The remark about him not working was something he had grown used to, just as the silence in the car.  
The one time he had tried to talk to him, well, to say the least, it didn't go too well. So he kept looking at the road and concentrated on driving. The roads were hell! Beeping others here, road works there and stupid, bold pedestrians everywhere. But he somehow managed to arrive at the tall building. _Black Industries_ was written in big black letters over the entrance. Cleaned windows, which reflected everything like a mirror, greeted them and a door slid open. A broad man exited, walking straight up to the black car. He opened the back door and Mister Black stepped out. All the while Harris had hurried to get the suitcase out of the trunk.  
"Meath, would you kindly?" asked the man with his soft voice and nodded at the luggage. The addressed man growled his understanding and took it into his hand, and followed his boss, who had taken the lead.

Harris filled his cheeks with air and released it, almost in a relieved sigh. He had been lucky! Even though he had been late, his boss had been grateful. No punishment, no …  
"Harris, wait!" called the velvet voice of the sleek man, "I do not need you anymore today, so please, park the car! Thank you!" and he put on the sweetest smile he could muster.  
Harris smiled back at him. "Yes, Sir!" he said, as usual, resisting the urge to salute him. "See you tomorrow morning, Sir!"  
"To my delight not! You're fired!"  
With a turn on his heels, Mister Black turned around, sparing the blond boy no more thought.

.

.

The polished sliding door opened and closed. Cool air greeted the dark slim man and his broad companion. A thin woman, hair tied rigorously into a tight bun on the back of her head, nodded at him, mumbling a quiet "Welcome back Mister Black", resuming to her work, which only seemed to be filling out crosswords.  
As long as she did what she was good at, getting rid of nosey reporters, freedom and anti-war activists, she would be allowed to wear a giant Mexican sombrero, dance the Macarena, and Mr Black would not mind!  
The last time he had to fire a lobby lady was after a Greenpeace activist, who had been found taking photos in the laboratories. How he wished that firing her could have been literally. That dumb cow! Letting that stupid tree-hugger in because he had flirted with her! Pathetic woman!

The dark man shook his head and positioned himself in front of the silvery elevator. Meath pushed the button next to the door to call for the lift. Hands folded on his back, Mr Black tapped a slow rhythm with his index finger on the back of his hand. A mixture of annoyance and adrenaline had filled him.  
Firing people was awful! He always had to go looking for a new assistant then! And good assistants were difficult to find. But to see their lowly faces, hear their hearts shatter, when they heard those words, all of them dreaded so very damn much, was such a pleasure he could bask in all day.

The doors slid to the side and opened up to another overly polished little room. Without any further notice both men slipped inside. One stepping in, legs apart as if he was hiding infants in his trousers, the other with two elegant moves. He still had his hands on his back and a smug smile on his face, reviving some old memories of what they had done with the Greenpeace activist as the elevator moved up to the highest level of the building.  
The grin had faded when the doors opened a second time and he saw his personal secretary. She clipped the tiny modern phone from her ear and stepped from her desk towards her boss. He did not look at her once and began the way to his office room. Meath and the secretary followed him.  
"Nancy I fired Harris, phone that damn company and tell them I need a new assistant. This time someone who is capable! And Nancy, thanks to that idiot of former assistant, I have missed two appointments, tell the men we're sorry and make new appointments!"  
"Will be done, Sir, and is already done, Sir!"  
Mr Black nodded. She was good! Definitely worth her money and definitely worth too keep!  
"Any other appointments I've got today?"  
"Yes Sir! In two hours with Mr Anderson from New York. Video Conference. In your office."  
Meath had walked a little faster and had opened the sleek door to the office. The broad man placed the suitcase on the ground next to the gray desk. Curtains were pulled in front of the windows, banishing the light rays of sun from his room. Dim lights had flickered on after Meath had clicked the light switch.  
Mr Black stood in the middle of his room, Nancy behind him, Meath already on his way out, having one his job, walking back to the elevator already.

The slim man took the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger.  
"Just call that horrid company, get me a new assistant and wake me up 20 minutes before the conference with Mr Anderson!"  
"Yes, Sir!" Nancy confirmed, nodded at him and, even though he did not see her, and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her, turning off the lights.

Slim fingers stroked over the clean glass of his desk as he surrounded it. A lonely sheet of paper placed in the middle, a pencil case on its right, probably waiting to be signed.  
The man exhaled and sat down in his comfortable chair. He would look later at that paper!

His fingers moved up to his temples and he began to massage them slowly.  
What a day…  
The long flight, the waiting, appointments here, testing there, hand-shakes in between, convincing people, signing contracts, and to his joy, some threatening.  
His right palm ghosted over his face. He needed some rest before the next appointment. Mr Anderson was a man who was not very easily convinced. And yet, it was a job which had to be done.  
The man sighed. Another job having to be done was finding a new assistant! How he hated to train them! They were all so innocent and had no clue about life, how to drive properly arrange certain clothes, talk and move right.  
The only pleasure he got out of it was when he could crush their dreams, tell them what pathetic lowly and despicable human beings they were. Right into their faces, so he could see their hearts shatter, see the life leave their eyes, see how all hope was leaving them.  
This thought brought another smile on his face.  
And it turned him on.  
Slowly the blurry vision of a young adult filled his mind. He was tied up, his nose bleeding, legs slightly apart, a rope tied around his body, heavy pants as a cloth was aggravating his breathing.  
And he himself standing in front of the tied up and gagged male, a whip crashing down in his open palm…  
And Preston Black smiled, letting out a soft whimper as he found release in the dark.

.

.

"And your name is?"  
"Parker."  
"Sir!"  
"Parker, Sir!"  
Were all the young men nowadays raised without manners? Did they not have any training before they were sent off to become someone's assistant? Obviously not!  
Because Parker was the third assistant in a month. All the others did not meet his standards and he had sent them away rather quickly.  
Why was it so difficult to find someone with at least a bit of knowledge how to treat others?

The tall man dressed all in black bit his lower lip, suppressing a comment and staring at the black-haired male in front of him. He did meet what he was looking for in an assistant. Finely brushed and trimmed hair. His clothes matched perfectly and his posture was exceptionally good.  
"And you know what you will have to do as my assistant?"  
"Yes, Sir! Drive you around, get your clothes to the laundry, keep track of your appointments and do everything I can!"  
Delighted but with a sting in his chest Mr Black nodded. At least that one knew what he was signing for.  
"Well, good. You will work for me for a week and then I'll see if you fulfil my standards. If not, I will have to get rid of you!"  
"I will not disappoint you … Sir!"  
The businessman let out a low huff as if this sentence amused him. How often had he heard that? And how often had they all failed him? Numerous countless times!  
This one did not seem to be any different. All of them were so confident about their skills. If only they had some!  
"Go to Nancy and let her give you my schedule and the car keys. Let then Meath show you were the car is. I give you one hour to do a test drive in the car. In two hours I need you to drive me to a meeting."  
"Yes, Sir!"  
And with delight Preston Black noticed the young man in front of him suppressing a salute. What wonderful effect he had on others.

Lazily his fingers separated from each other and he waved at Parker. The sign for him to leave the office. The young man nodded and turned around, opening the door and letting it fall shut behind him.

Hopefully this one was better than the others. Although Mr Black had a tingling feeling in his stomach that this one still was not the right one but he could not put his finger on the reason what irked him.  
_We'll see! Don't give up before you have not seen what he is capable of!__**, **_he tried to tell himself. The man was tired of trying to find the right young man, but deep down he knew that his first impressions never failed him.

Preston Black growled as his phone started to beep.  
"Yes?" he spat harshly into the phone.  
"Mr Yao has arrived, Sir. He will be in the conference room soon!"  
He grunted his understanding and placed the phone back on the hook. And now he had to deal with him. Better not be late then! China and its exports were more than valuable for his company!  
The slim man closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his charcoal black hair. One final look into the mirror to make sure his suit was still looking good, his tie in place, and the rest of him looking like a panther, ready to strike.

.

.

It was the second time this week.  
Preston Black was late for a meeting. And Parker Simmons was the reason.  
The roadwork had no fault at all! His assistant should have checked the road first! It was not his job to do that for him! Parker had had enough time to listen to the radio or make sure they were in time! Hell, if he had to ignore the red traffic lights or drive over old people he would support it, if it meant he would be in time! No one needed those old humans! They were only a waste! They were disposable!

But no, Parker seemed to have all the time on earth, whistling a cheerful tune while they had waited at the traffic light. He had seemed to be in no hurry.  
That had been the moment when he had scolded him, throwing insults at him letting his anger out on the boy.  
Parker had twitched and slumped down in his chair, not paying attention to the road, which had started a whole concert of angry beeping horns behind him.  
That had satisfied Preston Black for the moment. Until he arrived at his destination and found his business partners rather upset. They did not sign the contract that day and it had only been thanks to his always convincing manners and speech that they agreed on a second meeting.

During the whole drive back to his office he had said no word.  
Luckily Parker kept his mouth shut, too. If he had said a word Preston could not be sure what he would have done in that case.  
When they arrived in front of the tall building, the slim man in black snapped his fingers and pointed at Parker, gesturing the male to follow him. And the sweet feeling of failure filled the little space of the car. He noticed how Parker suppressed a sigh, how his fingers curled around the steering wheel and his brown eyes lowered to the floor.  
Sure enough the man followed him, through the sliding doors, past the lady in the lobby, into the lift. The whole time, no one said a word.  
As soon as the doors of the elevator closed, Parker seemed to hold his breath, anxious about what would follow, while the other tall man, clad in a tight black suit, folded his hands behind his back, waiting for them to arrive on the top floor.  
When the doors of the elevator opened, Mr Black shook his head very slightly at his secretary, who understood and nodded her head just as slightly as he had, and got back to her work, while he lead the way to his office.  
Parker looked at Nancy for help, who was concentrating on her papers again, so he continued to follow his boss with shaky knees.

Mr Black opened the door, stepped through and held it open for his assistant, gesturing the young man to sit down. Cautiously he obeyed, sitting down in front of the polished desk. He folded his fingers in his lap, so he would not twiddle his thumbs or make any other movements his boss could call annoying.  
Preston Black had watched every move of the young man. Every little detail. His nervous fiddle with his fingers. The way he licked his lips. How his eyes flickered from left to right, from the door to him and back to the door as if he was searching for an escape; and another quick lip lick.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the businessman walked towards the sitting boy, watching the nervous male, every of his subtle moves, the little pearls of sweat that appeared on his forehead, how he inhaled the air sharply through his nose.  
The closer Preston Black came, Parker grew more nervous. He started to bite his lower lip in anticipation of what his boss had to tell him, but he only stood next to him, hands still on his back, studying his assistant's expressions.

"Parker." Mr Back's low and soothing voice filled the room. The addressed male swallowed hard and held his breath.  
"I am", the black figure started to walk around the sitting youth, taking his time with each step. Behind Parker's back he continued to speak, "quite disappointed."  
He stopped right in front of him and stared him into the eyes, gray meeting brown. Quickly the brown eyes gave up and looked down at the floor.  
"I expected more of you. I would have thought that a stupid person like you would be able to fulfil the easiest of tasks. Today I have seen that you can't!"  
Parker twitched and Preston Black smiled. He started to walk again, this time to the window behind his desk and looked outside. For a moment no one said a word, until the soft voice of the tall man started to speak again.  
"To be honest, during the last few days I have seen that you are a total waste of space. How can your family be proud of you? You are just a lowly human being. Not worth my time, not even worth to breathe the same air as me. You are pathetic! The first time I have laid my eyes on you I saw a child. An uneducated child whom I chose to take by its hand and lead it down the right path and teach it. Today I saw that you are unteachable. You are as dull as a monkey. No, even a monkey will learn more than you ever will!"  
He turned around and looked at the young man, who had slightly slumped in his chair.  
The predator was eyeing his prey, ready to jump.

"I will not waste my time with a useless creature like you anymore!" Gray eyes stared mercilessly down on the young man. Parker swallowed hard again, not daring to say a word.  
"Give the car keys to Nancy and leave this building!" said Preston Black, with a voice smooth as satin. He turned around again. The former assistant would assume later that he had been given a chance to walk away with dignity, that Preston Black had turned around to give him the time to straighten his face, walk with wobbly knees out of the door without losing his face.  
In reality Preston Black did not want to see the man anymore. He was disgusted! Any more minutes with him and he would hit him hard.

So he had to restrain himself and clenched his fists on his back, grit his teeth and continued to stare out of the window, until the door finally fell shut.  
For a very short moment Mr Black closed his eyes, before he turned around and sat down in his chair, fingers on his forehead, thumbs rubbing massaging his temples.  
There was a knock on his door, "Come in!", and Nancy entered the room with a cup in her hands. She placed it on the table in front of the man.  
"I have contacted the company. A new, possible assistant is on his way. He will be here in approximately fifteen minutes. Shall I then let him in or make him wait?"  
Mr Black looked at her. "Let him wait! I will come out of my office and call for him."  
Nancy nodded and left the room again. There was still work for her to do.

The man took the cup, filled with black coffee, in his hands, got up and looked again out of the window, thinking about the young men with whom he had tried his luck.  
One was worse than the other.  
Missed appointments with clients, awfully dressed assistants, no existing hygiene, terrible manners. Were they all really this dumb? Was no one of them capable of some basic behaviour?  
Brooding he stood there, looking out of his window, down on the streets, watching the lights of cars move around on the streets, thinking about assistants whose names he had long forgotten, sipping his coffee from time to time.  
When he had emptied the cup, he placed it on his desk and quickly crossed through his room, placing a hand on the door handle. He straightened his suit and pulled the door open.  
A head with auburn hair moved and forest green eyes looked up. The new assistant.  
"Come on in." Preston Black gestured, accompanying his words. The young man gripped the strap of his bag a little tighter as he followed the gesture, leaving the room which was filled with the busy sound of a keyboard being used, stepping into the lion's den.


End file.
